Documentation Learning

For Students with Learning Disabilities

DEFINITION OF LEARNING DISABILITY:

A learning disability is generally defined as significant discrepancy between
achievement and ability with intra-cognitive discrepancies not attributable to
other disabling conditions or to environmental deprivation. Documentation for
learning disabilities is required for academic adjustments and is obtained at
the student's expense.

DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS:

The following documentation criteria are used to identify qualified
individuals with learning disabilities for special admissions consideration and
to determine disability-related support services.

Verification of a learning disability shall include all of the following:

Documentation must be prepared by a professional qualified to diagnose a
learning disability, (e.g. licensed psychologist, learning disabilities
specialist, or neuropsychologist). Collaboration with speech and language
clinicians, reading specialist, and other educational professionals may be
appropriate and necessary for a comprehensive assessment of a student's
needs; however, these professionals are not generally considered qualified
to diagnose a learning disability.

Documentation must include results of a clinical interview with the
individual with descriptions of the testing procedures, instruments used,
along with test and subtest results reported in standard scores as well as
percentile rank and grade scores where useful, and interpretation and
recommendations based on the data gathered.

Documentation must be comprehensive and include test results in the
following areas where applicable: intelligence, reading, mathematics,
spelling, written language, language processing, and cognitive processing
skills. Testing should carefully examine areas of concern/weakness as well
as areas of strengths so a complete profile of a individual's learning is
developed.

Documentation must include a clear diagnostic statement based on test
results and personal history.

In general, documentation should be dated no more than three years prior
to admission as requested from
Special Student Services. Documentation older than three years
often does not adequately reflect an individual's current status because
compensation and maturation skills, as well as accommodation needs, change
over time. Historical documentation of disability provides useful
information; however, it alone may not be used to determine service
eligibility.

Documentation must include recommendations regarding effective academic
accommodations to equalize this student's educational opportunities at the
post-secondary level; that is, describe the services or accommodations
needed for exam administration, classroom or study activities for
fulfillment of course requirements.

ASSESSMENT TOOL GUIDELINES FOR LEARNING DISABILITIES:

Selection of test instruments should be individually tailored to answer the
referral issues of the student. Instruments should, to the extent possible, be
normed on an age, educational, and culturally appropriate sample. The domains of
intelligence, academic achievement and cognitive processing should all be
assessed when a diagnosis is to be made. The following instruments are examples
of tests that would be considered appropriate for use in the diagnosis of a
learning disability in adults:

This list is not intended to be exhaustive nor restrict assessment in other
pertinent areas. Other tests may be deemed appropriate based on the presenting
issues of the individual. Referral issues presented by the student should guide
the assessment. However, it is not appropriate to base a diagnosis on the
results of one test in a single domain.

Accommodations and academically-related services for students with learning
disabilities are designed to accommodate a perceptual disorder impairing the
student's ability to acquire, process, or communicate information.
Accommodations are not designed to provide remediation. Accommodations and
services are determined based on collaboration between the student, Special
Student Services staff, and in most cases, with the faculty teaching the course
in which the student is enrolled. Each academic accommodation is determined on
an individual basis and made available to the extent that it does not compromise
the academic integrity of the student's program.